Tag Archives: David-Tlale

Enjoy the idea of Joburg Fashion Week glossing up the inner city. It’s something SA Fashion Week and the Fairlady Awards did for years but to a much smaller audience. I’ve seen catwalk shows at Turbine Hall, pre-renovation, at Hillbrow’s Windybrow Theatre and even at the deconsecrated Wolmarans Street Synagogue. This time the venues are a little more luxe and include the Rand Club, the Bus Factory (OK, not that luxe) and what sounds like a spectacular finale across the Nelson Mandela Bridge with David Tlale showing 92 outfits, each marking one year of Madiba’s life. I have also heard that the best part of that show will be that everyone gets a front-row seat – and you don’t have to trip a fashion editor for it. Continue reading →

#216. Saturday morning in brilliant sunshine we took a walk along the hip stretch of Juta Street in Braamfontein. Braamfontein’s re-imagining is more than talk and the colourful little complex of stores and offices on 70 Juta Street bears this out [It officially opened last weekend]. We started off at POST for their homemade lemonade and a tasty snack-sized prego roll. With its glass front POST is a perfect spot to sip something while observing street life (in this city of malls and walls that’s a luxury). Continue reading →

#84. Head downtown for the Mercedes-Benz SA Award for Fashion Design 2009. A few Fridays ago I headed to the Seippel Gallery in End Street for the announcement of the Mercedes-Benz SA Award for Fashion Design 2009. As a kid I used to accompany my mother on buying trips for her clothing store in that part of town which then housed the city’s “schmatte” trade. A few years later I returned to End Street to my then favourite hangout, Idols, a nightclub that thinking back endlessly replayed Roadhouse Blues by the Doors. “Ah keep your eyes on the road, Your hands upon the wheel…” Continue reading →